I pay homage and utmost respect to my grandparents and ancestors along my journey and in embarking on co-creating this site. To my grandmothers who raised me in the matrilineal tradition where women run the show. To Nana Mattie (Tuscarora, Eastern Band of Cherokee), my maternal grandmother, who left her ancestral lands in North Carolina for opportunities in the New York City area--who taught me the importance of being water people through a diet of smoked fish, spiced crab and strong intuition. Nana Lane, of Lenape ancestry, always said "don't let the sun set on hate" and stood up to anybody who dared to direct injustice her way. To my grandfather Papa Lane (Creek/Lenape), who ingrained the power of connection to the land--growing food, hunting the traditional way, and fishing so we always knew where and how our food was sourced.
Cherokee
On a smokey weekend at Waypoint Park in Bellingham, WA, Indigeversal Collective installed a massive 160 foot mural at the entrance of the park. On August 18-20, a team of extremely talented artists from Coast Salish to Cherokee origins spent 3 days painting in the Coast Salish and form line design styles associated with Pacific Northwest tribal nations.
Kay WalkingStick, the Cherokee painter, focuses on the American Landscape and it’s metaphorical significances not only to Native Americans but also to all of our citizenry. The landscape sustains us physically and spiritually. It is our beautiful corner of the cosmos. The varied rendering of landscape in WalkingStick’s art is the thread that weaves together the many painterly directions her art has taken over the last 50 years.
Jeffrey A. Gibson (born 1972) is an American Mississippi Choctaw/Cherokee painter, and sculptor. He has lived and worked in Brooklyn; Hudson, New York; and Germantown, New York.
